BOARD01164

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2006
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Crews clearing vegetation and performing wood and concrete work will be visible to those walking along
the levee road or biking on the bicycle path through the Rio Grande bosque south of Bridge Blvd. Bicycle .
traffic will be temporarily diverted at times as a safety measure.

The sanctuary was designed to mimic ideal river conditions. The channel near the river will provide a
breeding and rearing habitat for the minnow and protection from predator fish. Gates and fish screens will
allow fish and eggs to be held in the channel and eventually released directly back into the river. Releases
will be timed according to river conditions. Construction of the sanctuary is considered essential for
successful protection of the Rio Grande silvery minnow.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement Avallable on Upper Rio Grande: Reclamation's
Albuquerque Area Office announced Jan 20 that a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the
impacts of proposed changes in water operations offederal facilities in the upper Rio Grande basin is
available for public review.

- . This DEIS prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and New Mexico
Interstate Stream Commission is aimed at formulating a plan for future water operations at ten water
operations facilities in the upper Rio Grande basin. The proposed changes in operations must be within
the existing authorities of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers and New Mexico
Interstate Stream Commission.

The DEIS presents alternatives that include changing waiver dates at Heron Reservoir, changing channel
capacity below Abiquiu and Cochiti, allowing storage of Rio Grande water in authorized San Juan-ehama
space in Abiquiu Reservoir and allowing varying degrees of diversion to the Low Flow Conveyance
Channel. The DElS summarizes the environmental, economic and social effects of these alternatives.

The document is available for review at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 555 Broadway NE, Suite 100,
Albuquerque, New Mexico or online at htto://www.sna.usace.armv.mil/url!WoDsI. Comments will be
accepted until March 21, 2006.

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San Juan/San MlguellDolores River Basin

San Juan Publlc Lands - "Government-to-Government Roundtable" Update: The San Juan Public
Lands - "Plan for the Future" is a long-term planning effort by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the San Juan Basin of southwestern Colorado. The San Juan
Public Lands Center, as the joint USFS/BLM management unit is known, is the first governmental unit of
this type to conduct such a joint long-range planning effort. This plan will address the management of
over 2.5 million acres of National Forest and BLM lands.

As part of this planning effort a "Government-to-Government Roundtable" was formed to lead
discussions on water issues in the plan revision process. Since the first meeting of the Roundtable in May
2005, meetings have been held on a monthly basis. The process began by laying a foundation of
information for the Roundtable participants. Topics discussed included: applicable Federal and State
laws, the Multiple Use concept, the process - a Deliberation Funnel, the State's Instream Flow Program,
stream needs and expectations from a fishery perspective, water facilities permitting requirements, Wild
and Scenic River analyses, and Wilderness Areas. The focus of the meetings has now shifted to
reviewing the desired outcomes the various participants brought to the process and how these can be
address in the draft management plans.

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